A Critical Evaluation of BRITISH AIRWAYS

A Critical Evaluation of BRITISH AIRWAYS HISTORY & BACKGROUND OF BA British Airways has been in operation since 1930s. During the start of the World War II, British Airways and Imperial Airlines merged together and started a new subsidiary company British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC). The aim was to provide the long distance international services and to cover the short distance services in Europe. The British European Airways (BEA) was in operation. (Papadogiannis, 2006). In 1974, BOAC and BEA merged together to operate under the brand name of â€Å"British Airways†. During the early 1980s, BA encountered some financial problems. Therefore, Sir John King was appointed to take control over the privatization project which successfully transformed the organization in the year 1987. (Datamonitor, 2005) http://thanabut.blogspot.com/2007/05/1-introduction-this-report-is-written.html ORGANIZATION’S OVERVIEW British Airways is the UK’s largest & one of the leading premium airlines of the world. It oper ates its flights to the finest airports around the globe. The focal point of BA’s business is London with major operations at Heathrow, London City & Gatwick airport. Around 20  million people reside within the distance of these airports. Along with the passenger services, they also deal in worldwide air cargo business. They have one of the most extensive & busiest international air networks. In conjugation with their franchise partners they connect over 300 major destinations (airports) in the world. Records depict that BA carried around 32 million passengers all over the world in the year 2009/10. BA contributes a significant share in the UK economy. They play a crucial role in trade, commerce, fulfilling needs for business & leisure travel. During the financial year 2009/10 they generated revenue of about 8 billion GBP, which was 11% less as compared with that of the previous financial year. Out of this total revenue 87% came from the passenger travel, while cargo transp ortation accounted for 7 per cent & the remaining 6% revenue was from other activities. They transported & delivered about 760,000 tones of cargo to several destinations in Europe, America, Asia & all over the world. By the end of the fiscal year in March, 2010 BA had a large fleet of 238 aircrafts in service, which comprises of Boeing 747s,737s,757s,767s, Airbus 318s, 319s, 320s, 321s, Avros & Embraers etc. BA has a huge manpower of over 40,000 employees. (Hoovers, 2006) (www.britishairways.com) MISSION & GOALS OF BRITISH AIRWAYS Mission of British Airways The slogan of British Airways is â€Å"The World’s Favourite Airline,† so the organization’s mission is to make this slogan a reality by providing world class & efficient services both in-flight and on the ground. (http://finance.mapsofworld.com) The mission statement of British Airways is to be a leader in the international aviation sector & world travel industry. In order to successfully achieve this missio n they follow certain principles:- Honesty & a sense of responsibility towards their customers & company’s policies. Safety & security of passengers & the employees. Developing a strong feeling of innovativeness & team spirit among the staff members. Developing a global approach by delivering high quality services worldwide. It is the dream of every organization to achieve appreciation in the form of customer loyalty & long term relationship. The management aims at maximising profits by reducing the extra costs involved in the production process. Similarly, in the airline industry also customer satisfaction is given the first priority. Customers should get the value for their money. http://books.google.co.uk